Smiling Facades
by Grey Grapevines
Summary: A chance encounter between Tenten and Sai leads to another meeting. One-Shot R&R Not romance, not, er anything really. I won't lie, it's a boring read. I May rewrite it completely different soon.


**A/N: Hello!! You're all probably wondering, WTF O.o when you find that the "pairing" is Sai in Tenten. HOWEVER!! It is only there if you bend your head, squint, and pay me 5 dollars. I originally came up with this idea after a different one involving the two characters that I have forgotten. I remember an author who met someone who noticed how Tenten only smiles when she was being spoken to. So I played with the idea, and thought, "Kind of like how Sai pretends to smile", thus BAM! We have this baby. Though I should warn you, my Microsoft word says I write like a 5th**** grader…what the hell is flesch kincaid? They don't even have it in their own spell check system! Ah to hell with it, read away!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own nothing but the idea and my shitty words**

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Watching her from the shadows, the friendly façade that was usually on Sai's face was nonexistent. After his first encounter with the girl, he thought he had managed to push the memory of the event out of his mind. In reality, that did not seem to be the case. In fact, it just seemed to lay dormant, deciding to spring into his mind as soon as he spotted her while on the way to his new assignment. Instead of ignoring her like he should (and normally would) have, Sai followed her to the training grounds.

Crouched in the tree, he continued to observe the girl who donned to buns on her head. Yes, something about this girl intrigued him. She was average looking, not beautiful yet not ugly. Her hair was done into a pair of buns, bangs held out of her eyes with her hitai. Dressed in white and black, she did not draw much attention to herself. She did not seem to excel in anything from what he has observed either. He could tell she trained more then the average Kunoichi in their age group by her toned muscles and tan skin, small scars littering her body. Admittedly, she was strong for a kunoichi, even stronger then many Shinobi. She was incredibly overshadowed by her two teammates however. In fact, he probably would not have given her a second thought, let alone a first thought if it weren't for their 'interesting' meeting.

A grunt drew Sai's attention back to the girl, watching as her form leapt high in the air spinning and twirling within her two scrolls. She sent various weapons hurtling down at the Hyuuga protégé who deflected them all with seeming ease. Gracefully landing on the ground, the girl charged forward and began hand-to-hand combat. As expected, the Hyuuga beat her with ease in hand-to-hand combat. He observed her be brutally defeated, ungracefully colliding with the dirt. The girl smiled up at the Hyuuga and laughed, admitting defeat. Onyx black eyes immediately concentrated themselves on to the girl, watching her expression carefully. He could feel the answer he was looking for on the tip of his tongue, but just could not put his finger on it. Just what was it about her… Again a noise, presumably by the Hyuuga, interrupted his train of thought. Momentarily pulling his attention away from the enigma that was the girl, Sai turned his scrutinizing yet emotionless gaze to the longhaired male.

"I said reveal yourself!" the white-eyed male growled at the unwanted spectator. Pausing for a second, Sai gracefully leapt off the branch he was previously occupying and silently landed on his feet before them. Offering a friendly smile, Sai chose to ignore the Hyuuga boy glaring at him and turned his attention to the girl still sitting on the ground and greeted her cheerfully. Really, he had been expecting the Hyuuga to call him out sooner.

"Hello."

The Hyuuga boy glanced down at his sparring partner, who had yet move from her position. The intruder watched her with hidden fascination as she stood up and brushed of the dirt from her clothes. Finally raising her head, she met the stranger's gaze and lifted a delicate brow. Nodding her head in acknowledgment, she cocked her head to the side.

"Hey."

"You know him Tenten?" Ah, so that was her name. Tenten… It was nice, somewhat exotic. The prodigy eyed Sai with guarded eyes. Shrugging, Tenten met Sai's gaze with a questioning look.

"Not really." She replied, pausing to roll her shoulders. "Just someone I met. What are you doing watching us?" She asked him. Sai knew the enigmatic girl probably meant the question differently. The real question was not 'Why were you watching us', but more like 'why were you watching me?' Sai was asking himself the very question. A moment of silence reigned in the clearing as she patiently waited for his answer. Lacking the answer Sai remained silent, idly going over his thoughts. Perhaps he wanted her name? The Hyuuga already stated it was Tenten, but it did not satisfy his need to know… know something. Instead of giving a straight answer Sai decided to mention their first meeting.

"What you said when we first met, how?"

Sai waited, making sure his smile never faltered as he observed her reaction.

'_**Your smile needs practice'**_

The words echoed silently in the field between them, almost as if she spoke them again. At the time those words were first spoken, he remember the feeling of something cold and hollow flutter in him, accompanied by the feeling of something akin to electricity in his gut. He still did not know what that strange feeling was. His eyes never leaving Tenten, Sai took his time to analyze the feelings from his first and now second encounter. It was different from the usual numb and void feeling he was accustomed to, that was for sure. The electricity in his gut made him want to do something, but he was not quite sure what. Was it what people called restlessness? Excitement? Anticipation? Maybe … What ever it was, it made him wish the bun-haired girl would do something. Examining the cold hollow-like feeling that also gripped his gut, Sai found it strange as well, but not entirely unfamiliar. It reminded him of times when he felt… uneasy, maybe even slightly desperate. Those times were beaten out of him when training for ANBU however. He no longer felt such ridiculous things. He was to just follow orders, no questions asked like all Shinobi were supposed to. Unlike the other Nins in the village, Sai did not express anything at any time. Emotions were a liability and all Shinobi should be trained to remain constantly emotionless. Perhaps they were not trained efficiently enough? That would explain why they all seem to be so at ease as soon as they return from their missions. He was getting sidetracked now however, so pushing the thoughts into the back of his mind Sai continued to smile. Bringing his attention back to the girl before him, Sai vaguely wondered if she felt the same hollow and electrifying feelings too.

The two of them stood there smiling at each other while the Hyuuga stood off to the side, irritated at being ignored. Observing his teammate and the intruder with his talented eyes, Neji could tell some kind of strange interaction was happening between them. As talented as he was at reading people however, he did not have a clue as to what was actually happening.

Searching Tenten's eyes for the slightest hint of a reaction, Sai found nothing. Not the determination he had expected to see, not the nervousness one usually had when being stared down at, nor the boredom that should have been there when lacking the previous two. Finally it clicked into place.

"I see." Sai said with a light air in his voice.

It made sense now. The feelings did not leave like he had hoped. Instead they stayed and seemed to intensify. Sai's eyes widen a slight hair, a look of an amazing revelation flashing in his eyes for s split second. He observed her and took her in with his eyes with a new perspective. Breathing out through slightly parted lips, Sai smoldered the feelings of something akin to wonder and curiosity, allowing a familiar numbness to wash over him. Turning to leave, Sai closed his eyes and opened his mouth to speak, his smiling never faltering.

"I'll leave you to your training then." Sai turned around and walked through the thicket of trees, disappearing from sight. A moment of silence reigned over the scene as Neji scanned the area with his Byakugen.

"He left." Neji stated calmly. Turning around Neji watched Tenten picking up her weapons a strewn in the field, signifying the end of training. Packing up the rest of their equipment they casually walked down the dirt path towards the main roads.

"What was that about?" Neji asked her, mentally cursing his curiosity. Tenten looked away from the path and glanced at the Boy genius, smiling her usual smile.

"Oh nothing."

Frowning at Tenten, Neji nodded and chose to remain silent. He was not sure what occurred, but he was sure it was significant in some way. Watching his teammate from the corner of his eye, he tucked the events of today into the back of his mind for later analyze.

Leaping rooftop to rooftop, Sai headed towards his 'mission', thoughts still reviewing the event that transpired a few minutes ago. It finally made sense. Why he found her so interesting. Her eyes were not guarded with a steely gaze like most would expect of a Shinobi. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Her eyes displayed a wonderful rainbow of emotions. Wonderful_ fake _emotions. It was with that façade she was able to hide the same numbness he had.

Landing silently on another rooftop, Sai observed his new target, this time his actual assignment. A whiskered blue-eyed blond spoke animatedly with a pair of Chuunins, presumably friends. Leisurely preparing his attack, he continued to watch the blonde before deciding it was time to 'introduce' himself. Letting loose his art, he landed in their view after the initial attack. Smiling at the three boys, Sai's thoughts never strayed from the mystery known as Tenten.

They both lacked the pool of emotions that most humans had, needed, and craved for. In a twisted way, it was like looking into a mirror for him. They were… kindred. She was…

'_Just like me...'_

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END!! So whatcha think? When I reread it, it kind of made me think a lot of people would be bored reading it. It kind of didn't hit what I was aiming for, but still kind of did. Man, I gotta go find tutorials on how to write or something XD Review people!! It makes me want to sleep and check my emails the next day!! **REVIIIIIIIIIIIIEWW!! **


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